Blog — craft

Part sewing studio, part fabric and yarn shop, gather here, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts is a one-of-a-kind stitch lounge, created to cater to all fiber craft goals. We're big fans of this magical place and asked owner and founder Virginia B. Johnson to tell us more behind creating one of the best craft stores in the country. Tell us about the origins of gather here--when did you open and why?  gather here opened on February 19, 2011. In 2010 I wrote a business plan for a "stitch lounge" inspired by the places I had visited over the years. Whenever I went...

If you're familiar with Subversive Cross Stitch at all you know that we love to create and share free patterns whenever we can. We're big believers in encouraging everyone to slow down and make something and if our free patterns can be a gateway drug to more stitching in your life you know we're here for it. You can find every free cross stitch pattern we have ever created right here. That's over 25 free patterns! Here's some of what you'll find there: Sure the pandemic is starting to slow down and we're all coming out of our houses more...

These bold new postcards will be going out in orders soon! SERIOUSLY, do you know how therapeutic crafting can be? I can attest firsthand to how much it helps relieve my stress, depression and ANXIETY. It's all about FLOW--there's just something magical about engaging your hands in stitching that lets your brain roam free. That's one reason I constantly remind you that it's not about perfection--who really cares how the back of your stitching looks or if you're "doing it right"? Stitching is all about the journey and the journey is a relaxing one. It's good for stress, health, aging,...

Great article from Yahoo DIY today about Needlepoint here. You know, any of my patterns can be turned into needlepoint. For example, the two pillows above that Urban Outfitters produced a year or so ago -- these came from cross stitch designs of mine. You can always add more in the foreground if you don't want to stitch a lot of the same color background. Experiment, jazz it up! See what happens! And send me photos if you do. Happy New Year!